Principal Research Scientist Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Illinois
Principal research scientist jobs in Illinois are concentrated at Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, and the University of Chicago, with Chicago and the collar counties hosting the densest clusters. International candidates pursuing visa sponsorship will find Illinois employers actively filing for H-1B visa and sponsoring green cards across biomedical, physical, and computational research disciplines.
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Company Description
About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Job Description
Overview
The Development Sciences Biologics Drug Product Development organization within AbbVie develops and characterizes drug product formulations and manufacturing processes to provide clinical dosage forms to enable the development of AbbVie’s pipeline. AbbVie is seeking a highly motivated person to join the Biologics CMC Developability Team. Our team utilizes state-of-the-art biophysical and analytical instrumentation to assess candidates coming out of the Discovery pipeline. We collaboratively influence protein design paradigms to yield biologic candidates that will be successful drug products. Key to our success is developing models of protein structure and function to augment decision making in protein design and development. We utilize high throughput instrumentation and digital data systems to capture ML-ready data on industry leading datasets of therapeutic proteins. To drive maximum benefit from this data, we are seeking an experienced scientist to lead modeling efforts within our team. The successful candidate will bring deep experience of modeling protein stability or related properties to solve foundational questions such as viscosity, chemical degradation, and aggregation. Applicable modeling techniques could range from first principles to statistical based approaches. This role includes the opportunity to design molecules and custom studies for data generation, so knowledge of biochemistry experimentation is useful. The candidate will be a member of a global team and will work closely with scientists from multiple functional areas, including Discovery, Development Science Digital Transformation, and Information Research.
Key Responsibilities:
- Serve as a technical expert for modeling within Biologics CMC Developability Team
- Represent BCD in modeling communities within AbbVie; collaborates with other modelers or teams to ensure business needs are met by the correct modeling framework
- May perform in vitro laboratory experiments; works closely with teams for design of wet lab studies to build both models and fundamental knowledge of protein solution behavior
- Identifies emerging scientific and technological trends from multiple internal and external sources, assesses relevance and integrates applicable trends into BCD plans and strategies as appropriate. Present data at internal and external professional conferences and prepare manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals or patent applications
- May serve as BCD Lead, coordinate developability assessment activities for 1-2 Discovery Projects at a time
- Experience with cross-functional decision making across reporting lines
Qualifications
- BS, MS, or PhD in Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related disciplines with 14+ (Bachelors), 12+ (Masters), or 6+ (PhD) years of relevant industry experience.
- Proven ability to solve critical scientific problems.
- Direct experience with applying modeling techniques (mechanistic or statistical) to protein long-term stability or formulation screening such as kinetic degradation modeling
- Well versed in predictive machine learning and statistical modeling techniques
- Familiar with complex ML architectures including deep learning and hierarchical or multi-task frameworks
- Skilled with feature attribution, sensitivity analysis, and model interpretability
Key Competencies:
- Build strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of the team to enable higher performance.
- Excellent oral communication skills in a scientific setting as well as sound technical writing and documentation competencies are required.
- The candidate must be able to work independently, respond to changing priorities and short lead times for multiple tasks; able to identify problems and work toward solutions.
- Raises the bar and is never satisfied with the status quo.
- Creates a learning environment, open to suggestions and experimentation for improvement.
- Embraces the ideas of others, nurtures innovation and manages innovation to reality.
Additional Information
Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law:
- The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.
- We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.
- This job is eligible to participate in our long-term incentive programs.
Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.
AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.
US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html
US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:
https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html
Principal Research Scientist Job Roles in Illinois
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Search Principal Research Scientist Jobs in IllinoisPrincipal Research Scientist Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for principal research scientists in Illinois?
Major Illinois sponsors for principal research scientists include AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of Chicago. Large pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the North Shore corridor file H-1B petitions and sponsor employment-based green cards regularly for doctoral-level research roles. Smaller biotech firms around Chicago's Illinois Medical District also appear in DOL sponsorship records for senior scientist positions.
Which visa types realistically fit principal research scientist roles in Illinois?
Principal research scientist roles in Illinois qualify as specialty occupations requiring a directly related advanced degree, making H-1B the most common path. Employers file a Labor Condition Application with DOL before petitioning USCIS. F-1 students may use OPT or, with a STEM-designated degree in biology, chemistry, or a related field, a 24-month STEM OPT extension. Career-track researchers typically transition to EB-2 or EB-3 employment-based green cards, with EB-2 NIW available for those whose work carries national importance.
How to find principal research scientist visa sponsorship jobs in Illinois?
Migrate Mate lists Illinois employers with verified sponsorship history for principal research scientist roles, letting you search by city and filter for companies with active H-1B or green card filing records. This cuts out the guesswork of cold-applying to employers who have never filed for research scientists. Because the database draws on verified filing data, you can quickly identify whether a specific Illinois employer has sponsored comparable roles before.
Which cities in Illinois have the most principal research scientist sponsorship jobs?
Chicago anchors the market, with concentrations in the Illinois Medical District, Hyde Park, and the Fulton Market innovation corridor. The North Shore suburbs including North Chicago and Waukegan host AbbVie and Baxter campuses. Lemont and Batavia house Argonne and Fermilab respectively, creating a secondary belt of federally funded research sponsorship. Urbana-Champaign adds university-driven demand from the University of Illinois system for academic and applied research scientists.
Are there Illinois-specific factors principal research scientists should know before applying for sponsorship?
Illinois has a strong pipeline from the University of Chicago, Northwestern, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, so many Illinois employers are accustomed to sponsoring international researchers at the doctoral level. National laboratories like Argonne and Fermilab operate under DOE oversight, which affects how they structure sponsorship and what visa categories they can support. Candidates should confirm whether a lab position is classified as a postdoctoral appointment or a permanent staff scientist role, as this directly affects which visa pathway applies.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored principal research scientist jobs in Illinois?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.